Check out the NEW Sensory Garden NOW OPEN at Woodland Park Zoo

This Summer a new Sensory Garden opened at the Woodland Park Zoo!! 

Enhanced sensing elements and accessible for everyone!

Museums to Visit This Summer!

Going to a museum is a great way to continue education throughout the summer! 

Museums offer a dynamic opportunity to experience new things and explore in a rich educational environment. They are a foundation for creativity, critical thinking, and connection to the world around us. Museums promote imagination and inspire identity building learning experiences for all. 

Here are museums to visit this summer without breaking the bank and even getting in for FREE! 

Seattle:

Seattle Art Museum – Free for children 12 and under. First Thursday of each month, admission is free to the public!

Burke Museum – Free for children 5 and under. First Thursday of each month is free to the public

Henry Art Gallery – Children are free. First Thursday of every month is free to the public. Free admission every Sunday.

Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation -Visitor Center -  Admission is free during their business hours of 10am - 6pm Tuesday through Saturday.

Seattle Children's Museum – Children under 1 are free. DSHS/Provider One card holders get $1 admission. Sensory Sensitive Saturdays are the first Saturday of every month from 8:30am – 10am, tickets are $3 admission and must be repurchased.

Misc:

Artists at Play Playground – Free to the public

Tacoma:

Tacoma Children's Museum – Pay-as-you will admission program allows you to pay what you can afford to attend the musem. Tuesdays from 10am – 11:30 are specials needs play days!

Tacoma Art Museum – Admission is free with Tacoma Children’s museum ticket (from same day.) Children under 5 are free. The third Thursday of every month is free from 5pm to 8pm. Bank of America card holders/employees are free the first weekend of every month.

LeMay - America's CarMuseum - On certain Fridays each month, Lemay offers a free drive in movie at the America's Car Museum Haub Family Field. Watch from your car, chair, or blanket. Friday, August 11th they will be playing Moana!

Bellevue:

Bellevue Arts Museum – Free admission on the first Friday of every month. Children under 6 are free.

KidsQuest Children's Museum - free admission on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Children under 1 are free.

Renton:

Museum of Flight - Children 4 years and under are free. On the first Thursday of every month admission is free to the public from 5pm - 9pm. 

Bremerton:

Bug & Reptile Museum - free to the public.

Bainbridge Island:

KiDiMu - Kids DiscoveryMuseum - free admission the first Thursday of every month. Children under 1 year old are free

Summer Sensory Activities

There are many benefits of sensory activities. 

Sensory play is extremely beneficial to children with developmental delays and is often used in Sensory Integration Therapy. It has been proven that sensory integration therapy improves daily function in children with autism. 

It's not just children who have difficulty with sensory integration who benefit from sensory play; it's all children!

These activities help to stimulate your child's senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing. Sensory play also supports language development, cognitive growth, fine & gross motor skills, problem solving skills, and social interaction. 

Frozen Fractals Ice Art is an activity I recommend you try this summer. This activity allows your child to have creative freedom and is less structured than others. It is a messy activity, so make sure you take it outside on a sunny day! 

Erupting Ice Chalk is another outdoor activity I highly recommend! Just make sure when it is time for the vinegar portion of this activity that your child does not touch their eyes. 

Click here for more sensory activities to try this summer!

Shopping While Autistic

Sometimes it's difficult for neurotypical people to imagine what it's like to live with the kinds of sensory issues that people on the autism spectrum experience.  Lynne Soraya, an author with Asperger's Syndrome, describes something as seemingly mundane as grocery shopping in this article:

Shopping While Autistic

This is how she describes the low point of her shopping excursion:

A black mist has descended over my vision, I must fight to focus through it. My vision has become subtly pixellated, like a pointillist painting, and I see after-images each time I change focus.  Little bright spots dance across my vision. My ears hurt, my head hurts, and I feel nauseous, but I can’t leave.  Not yet.

 She then concludes:

So, the next time you see a child melting down in a store, please stop for a moment to consider. Try to tune into the sounds and sensory experiences that you normally tune out.  Try to imagine what it must feel like to experience them full force, at the type of intensity that can send even an experienced person over the edge.

It's easy to take for granted how much many of us tune out the sensory input coming at us from our environment.  Descriptions like Lynne's help us remember and empathize with those who have more difficulty than typical.